Desperately Trying to Live The Red Letters…
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, school has been substantially more difficult in the fall than it was in the summer. It turns out seminary is pretty hard! My apologies to those of you hoping for more consistent updates. As you know, I tend to write when the spirit moves me, and lately it’s begun to do so again.
2 Things to talk about today!
I was just thinking about something as I got up and set about my morning routine.
Hero tales.
I find that hero tales are really an interesting part of our culture. They’re unlike any other story, for several reasons, which I’ll mention in a second.
They’ve also been around forever, they’re one of the oldest forms of stories in existence. Much of ancient Greek literature takes the form of an epic, or a hero story. The Odyssey, considered to be one of the foundations for modern storytelling and literature, is the epitome of a Hero story.
But it doesn’t stop at books, it has infected everything. Movies, music, and even video games.
Movies, in my opinion, are currently one of the most effective means of telling a story. I say this as someone who has played way too many video games, and read a few books as well. There’s something about movies that just sucks you in, it could be the dark lights, the sweeping soundtracks, or maybe the Buncha Crunch…which I’m certain is only acceptable to eat in a theater.
Many of the most popular movies are obvious hero tales. Star Wars, The Dark Knight/Batman Begins, 12 Angry Men, Seven Samurai, you name it. All of them are about a hero coming in to save us all from utter doom. To save us from our destiny, one that seems inescapable and predetermined. If it wasn’t so drastic, we wouldn’t need a hero, but because it is, only Luke Skywalker and John McClane can save us. Where does this come from, this dire situation?
I believe they come from an inherent want, maybe even a need, of all humans.
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